The Dress

Essense of Australia D2679. I purchased this dress originally June 2020. I was super picky and tried on a ton of dresses, but fell in love with this one because it was simple but still elegant and just the right amount of sparkly, as well as fitted and showed off my body while still being comfortable since it is a stretch crepe material. We postponed our reception from June 2021 (did very brief ceremony) to June 10, 2022. It is a size 12 (I almost always wear a size 6 in street clothes) and it fit me very well - just needed to be taken in slightly in the hips and cups added to bust (more detailed alteration info below). It was super fun once bustled up to twirl around in. All in all kept it shockingly fairly clean, I spot cleaned as well as soaked out some dirt stains along the hemline, but it has not been professionally cleaned. Originally was thinking about having it preserved but I feel like it’s way too pretty to just be stuck in a box!

Alterations

$550 of alterations, which include: taking in slightly of hips, adding push-up cup inserts, adding nude silicone padding for comfort to sleeves, hemming length, and adding traditional (American) bustle with 9 hooks.